Playful passtime
by Mette
Summary: Rin is bored and asks Sesshoumaru to play hide and seek with her. R&R, and I'll put up more chapters!
1. Hide and seek

Playful passtime  
  
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken are copyrighted to Rumiko Takahashi along with the rest of the Inu Yasha gang.  
  
I just adore Sesshoumaru and Rin, so I decided to write this little fanfic one day. I mean, Rin is a kid, and kids  
want to play ^_^ Therefore, I decided to make her ask Sesshoumaru. He might seem a little OOC, but what the heck! I do my  
best, and besides, it's MY fanfic, so there! ;) English isn't my mother tongue, so don't get all pissy if you find spelling errors  
ok, just notify me of them so I can get them fixed.  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
The sun was shining today, its rays spreading across the western lands and lighting up the dim forests.  
At the outskirts of one of them, under a tall tree, sat Sesshoumaru, the lord of these lands. Carefully  
watching his territory, even during the rest he had ordered, Sesshoumaru didn't even pay attention the breeze,  
Jaken trying to get the twoheaded beast, Ah-Un, to sit, nor the little girl that walked up to him.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
The innocent voice brought the great demon out of his thoughts, and he slowly turned his head to move his  
gaze at Rin.  
"What is it, Rin?" he asked in a non-chalant matter. The pup couldn't be hungry or thirsty, as they had stopped for lunch  
earlier that day, and there was a stream not far away from the trees they were resting underneath.  
She seemed a little hesistant, then she spoke up, idly watching her feet as she kicked a small pebble.  
"Rin's bored..."  
Arching an eyebrow at her the youkai was about to question her why she had said that, but Rin continued.  
"Can we play hide and seek?"  
Truly surprised Seshoumaru blinked, eyes going a little wide. A human pup was asking him, the great lord of the  
western lands, to play? Sure, he had a few vague memories of his childhood, laughter and playing, though not much.  
"Can we?" Rin urged, giving his sleeve a slight tug and returning him back to reality.  
"Not now, Rin," said Sesshoumaru, leaning back against the tree, letting out a slight sigh as he turned his eyes  
to the leaves above him.  
"Pleeeaaaaaaase?"  
He lowered his eyes yet again to see the girl looking at him expectantly, her big, brown puppyeyes full of pleading.  
... what was that feeling in the pit of his stomach? He hadn't eaten anything bad, had he?  
Rin gave him another small whine, leaning closer and managed to get her eyes even more sad.  
Realizing he was loosing this battle, Sesshoumaru sighed and rose to his feet, brushing himself off.  
"Allright, but only for a little while, we have to move on soon," he added and gave his ward a stern look, letting her  
know who was in charge.  
The child however was more intent on the fact that her Sesshoumaru-sama was going to play with her, grabbing the ribbons  
that adorned his waist and bouncing around.  
"Rin."  
"Oh! Sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she excused herself after the slight grunt from the youkai, who coughed.  
"Exactly how do play 'hide and seek'" he demanded, not recognizing that game from when he was a pup himself. The memories  
were faint, he remembered little of the silly things he did during his young days, he rather cherished the day for his first  
kill, his first solo hunt, things like that. But could really human pups play that different? Pups were pups, weren't they?  
Rin's answer caught his attention again and he snapped out of his thoughts.  
"You go hide while Rin look away, and after a while Rin go to find you!" she beamed before shielding her eyes and started  
counting loudly.  
"One, two, three... fooour, five, six..."  
Merely arching an eyebrow before looking around, Sesshoumaru sighed before walking over to sit down behind a few bushes nearby.  
The things he degraded himself to...  
  
"Eighty-nine, eighty-ten... eh, eighty-eleven...?"  
Making a mental note for himself to order Jaken into teaching the girl to count properly next time he was tutoring her, Sesshoumaru  
wondered when she would start looking for him. He had better things to do than to sit here and wait for the pup to finish counting.  
"Ready or not, here I come!" Rin finally shouted out, and the sound of small feet running was heard. Tapping his fingers on his knees  
Sesshoumaru couldn't help but ponder; what was the fun in this game?  
He couldn't help but let out a slight yelp, even though he knew she was close, as Rin pounced him from behind , giggling as she clung to   
his youkata.  
"Found you!"  
Regaining his composure and dignity, he sighed and removed the child from his garments, setting her onto the forest ground infront of him.  
"Yes, now what?"  
"Now Rin goes hiding, and Sesshoumaru-sama counts and goes looking!" she smiled sweetly, getting to her feet and brushing her kimono off.  
With a barely audible sigh Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and reluctantly started counting, hearing the pup run off to hide.  
Deciding that it was enough as he reached fifty, he opened his eyes, sniffing the air. She hadn't gone far, her scent was close.  
After getting to his feet Sesshoumaru headed towards where her scent was the strongest. Like a human pup could hide from a powerful  
youkai like him.  
  
It didn't take him long at all to follow her trail to an old big tree not far away. Not bothering to speed up his pace he calmly walked  
over to it, still sniffing a little. As he came to the other side of the tree he saw Rin beaming up at him from a rather large hole in  
the wood, large enough for a small pup to fit in it at least.  
"You found Rin!" she giggled, crawling out of the hole, "now it's your turn to hide again!"  
His eyes widened a little, this was the point of the game? Just go hiding and find eachother? No wonder humans turned out weird when they  
became adults, with silly games like this!  
"Rin, we have to go now," he sighed, turning to walk back to where Jaken was most likely waiting for them.  
"Can we play more tomorrow?" he girl asked, looking a little sad as she half-ran next to him.  
Avoiding her pleading look, Sesshoumaru stared infront of himself as he walked, allowing himself a barely visible smile.  
"Maybe, Rin. Maybe."  
  
********************************************************  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
"Yes, Rin?" he replied, not moving his gaze from the forestline at the other end of the clearing. This day was as clear and beautiful as the one  
prior. They had been travelling for a few hours since sunrise, and had just recently stopped for a break and some food on Rin's behalf.  
"Can we play another game today?" she asked innocently, wiping her mouth after finishing her meal.  
"Hah!" Jaken snorted from where he sat opposite of her at the campfire, "the mighty Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't play with human whelps!"  
Chosing to ignore his servant Sesshoumaru moved his gaze to Rin who was blinking expectantly up at him.  
"We don't have time for the 'hide and seek" game now."  
"Not hide and seek! Tag!"  
Both Sesshoumaru and Jaken sat still for a moment, then looked at eachother before returning their attention to Rin.  
"What is this 'tag' game?" demanded Sesshoumaru, wondering if it was a bore like hide and seek had turned out to be.  
"It's fun, one person has to chase and tag another person, and if that person tags another person, that another person has to chase and tag!" Rin  
explained with her usual smile.  
Now that game seemed to make more sense. At least pups could learn something from it, both to chase and to escape. And this was something Rin had  
to learn. While getting to his feet Sesshoumaru nodded slightly.  
"Very well then, we shall play 'tag' then, but not for long."  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?!" Jaken exclaimed.  
"Hurray!" Rin beamed and grabbed Sesshoumaru's hand, "Jaken has to tag first! TAG, you're it!"  
Just as he had gotten to his feet, Jaken yelped as Rin hit him on his shoulder, making him fall forward as the girl ran away, giggling.  
Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow down at his servant and looked over at Rin, shook his head a little, then he turned to walk away from Jaken,   
not degrading himself to run.  
"S-sesshoumaru-sama?" croaked Jaken, pushing himself off the ground, "do we really have to... PLAY?! With a human whelp?!"  
His lord stopped for a second, then looked over his shoulder to give him a slight glare.  
"She will tire of it soon, and then she won't have enough energy to be a bother the rest of the day."  
With a sigh Jaken got to his feet, then sighed and ran after the child.  
"Can't catch Rin!" the girl cried when she spotted Jaken running after her. Jaken grumbled under his breath, wondering why he and his master  
let this annoying human girl follow them around. How he longed back for the good old days, when he, Jaken, would serve the great youkai lord  
Sesshoumaru without having to answer the brat's silly question, give her a whack over the head with his staff when she was too loud or simply   
because he needed something to take out his anger on.  
  
Sesshoumaru stopped to halt, watching as Jaken chased after Rin. At least his servant was wise enough to not chase after him. Well, he  
was quite certain that when Jaken finally caught up to the pup, she would most likely run after him. Untill then, he chose to watch the  
two in their silly chase/escape game around the trees at the outskirts of the forest. Deciding it was ok just this once, the lord of the western  
lands allowed himself a slight smile.  
In not too long Jaken finally managed to tag Rin rather hard, grinning as she toppled over in the grass.  
"TAG!"  
Then he scurried away as his short green legs would allow, hurrying past Sesshoumaru.  
The youkai froze for a second, then he sighed for himself. Did this mean he actually had to degrade himself by running... from a human pup?  
"Sesshoooouuuumaaaaruuuuu-saaaamaaaaaaa!" cried Rin as she began on the run towards him, giggling up a storm as pure glee shone from her big  
brown eyes.  
So Sesshoumaru came to the conclusion that he could let himself run a little, just enough to not ruin the game. Just this once.  
Just as Rin was about to reach him, he swiftly dodged her hand, jumping backwards gracefully. Rin looked confused for a moment, then she merely   
laughed some and raced over to continue the chase.  
At least it looked like she was having fun, Sesshoumaru thought for himself, smirking inwardly. Maybe he should let her catch him after a few dodges,  
just to please her. Not that he was letting her win that easily. So after a few minutes of ducking, jumping and dodging Sesshoumaru dodged half-heartedly,  
and then Rin managed to tag him on his arm.  
"TAG! YOU'RE IT!" Rin beamed, then quickly turned to run away.  
He froze then. Oh, now HE was supposed to chase her and Jaken. The latter was rather easy he decided, so he turned to look at his servant.  
"Jaken."  
"H-h-hai, Sesshoumaru-sama!" the toad-like Youkai cried out, scurrying over to obey his master's command.  
Upon hearing the order, Rin blinked and turned around, wrinkling her nose in disapproval.  
"Hey, that's cheating!" she cried out and ran over with Jaken, "don't you know the rules, Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
Just in the moment the two were a few feet away from him, Sesshoumaru quickly swept up Rin, giving her a slight smirk.  
"Fooled you." ((Author's note: Haaa, gotta draw that! **giggles**))  
Rin blinkblinked, then giggled and squirmed to be let down.  
"Game's over now, we gotta move on back to the castle," Sesshoumaru concluded, rising to his feet.  
"Awwwww, already?" pouted Rin, giving him a pleading look.  
"Yes."  
Then Sesshoumaru made his way back to where Ah-Un was waiting for them on the other side of the clearing, Jaken hurrying after in with Rin in his heels.  
At least this game had been better that the one last day.  
As he helped Rin atop Ah-Un's back, the girl smiled at him.  
"Can we play another game tomorrow, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked sweetly, making sure to look as cute as possible, people seemed to fall for that.  
He gave her a slight look, then a barely recognizable nod.  
"We'll see."  
  
  
  
------------------------------  
  
  
Soooo, whaddya think? It was short, I know. I have more ideas for more chapters, but I wanna know what you people think before I finish them up and post  
them. Ideas and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism are gladly appreciated.  
  
~Mette~ 


	2. Jump rope

Playful passtime - Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken are copyrighted to Rumiko Takahashi along with the rest of the Inu Yasha gang.  
  
Thanks for the psoitive reviews! It really inspired me! so I began searching on the net for some children's games.   
( http://www.gameskidsplay.net )  
Finally I found out what hpscotch is ;) In Norwegian it's called "paradis", kinda weird. I loved that game as a little, and I can  
certainly see Sesshoumaru playing that game! **snickers**  
  
Fawkes: Heehee, jumprope... great idea! **giggles at the thought**  
Senay: http://wwww.krangnes.com/anime/fooledyou.jpg - Are you happy? I am ^_^ **giggles**  
  
Please continue giving positive comments and suggestions for kid games, I really appreciate it!!  
I got many positive comments on some forums too, so here it is! Chapter two! **drumroll** There's a little cursing here in the end  
just so you're warned if any sensitive souls are reading this ;)  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Silence reigned throughout Sesshoumaru's castle. Just the way he wanted it when he was relaxing in his chambers, seated on the floor  
and gazing calmly out of the window to the gardens surrounding the castle. The sakura threes were blooming, creating a sweet  
and soothing scent which the wind carried throughout the castle grounds. Yes, he needed this. If he was to judge this day from the ones  
prior he simply _knew_ that in a short while he would hear the running of her footsteps, even though Jaken must have told her  
hundreds of times: no running in the castle. Except for those cases with invading rival youkai, of course.  
  
And sure enough, the sound of her hurried footsteps came in a few minutes, and soon the door slid open.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama!"  
"What have I told you about running, Rin?" he calmly asked, not moving at all.  
"Ummm, that Rin shouldn't run in castle?"  
He gave a slight nod, waiting for it.  
"... can we play today too?"  
There it came.  
"What game then, Rin?"  
"Jumprope!" she beamed, grabbing his hand in attempt to tug him with her, which she off course failed.  
The youkai looked calmly at her, not budging.  
"What sort of game is it?"  
"It's a funny jumping game! We'll play it outside, we'll need a rope! And Jaken-sama must play too!"  
With a sigh Sesshoumaru admitted his defeat, wondering where the fun in jumping was. And why did they need a rope in the  
first place? He calmly rose to his feet, following Rin as she lead the way.  
  
A few minutes later they were outside in the gardens, Rin looking around for the perfect place to play this game, Sesshoumaru  
walking calmly after her with a rope flung over his shoulder, and a grumbling Jaken at his heels.  
"I still don't see why we have to play with her..." he complained, just loud enough for his master to hear.  
"Patience, Jaken."  
Jaken sighed heavily, trudging on and clutching his staff tighter. The stupid incident the day before had been annoying enough,  
he had to chase a human girl in a stupid game. And now they were about to play another pathetic human game.  
"Tie the rope to that branch, Sesshoumaru-sama!"  
The youkai arched an eyebrow as Rin now stood next to a low tree with sturdy branches, several of them at his chest level.  
He didn't question her however and simply tied one end of the rope to the branch Rin had pointed out.  
Then Rin took the other end of the rope and walked away from the tree a few yards. Curiously both Sesshoumaru and Jaken  
saw Rin starting to swing the rope as best as she could.  
"Bah, what stupid game is this?!" demanded Jaken, not impressed at this. He earned a slight glare from Sesshoumaru though, who  
then turned his attention back to Rin.  
"What now?"  
"Now you swing the rope and Rin will teach you the game!"  
As said, as done. Sesshoumaru walked over and replaced Rin, swinging the rope as he watched her.   
She then suddenly ran towards the rope and jumped, making it pass under her feet. The two youkai blinked, watching as Rin continued   
to jump as Sesshoumaru kept on swining the rope.  
"That's the game?" questioned Jaken, still not finding this interesting at all.  
"There are many ways to play it!" Rin said, then began to recite a rhyme as she kept on skipping.  
"I like coffee, I like tea, I like Jaken-sama to jump with me."  
Jaken frowned, not understanding this.  
"What do you mean?"  
"You're supposed to jump in with me, Jaken-sama! Come on!"  
Jaken blinked, then looked up at Sesshoumaru, who gave him a look that sternly said that he was going to jump unless he wanted another  
100 years subtracted from his life. Knowing better than to defy that order, Jaken laid down his staff and prepared to jump into the rope.  
And as known, Jaken's athetlic abilities can be compared to Inu Yasha's knowledge of etiquette: lacking.  
So instead of jumping over the rope, he went jumping right into it instead.  
"AAAAH!"  
Sesshoumaru stopped swinging the rope, then looked at Rin.  
"What do you do when this happens?" he asked, not quite sure of the rules of the game.  
"It's Jaken-sama's turn to swing the rope, and you jump!" she stated, then looked at Jaken, who was holding his stomach.  
"It's your turn to swing the rope, Jaken-sama!"  
Rather unwillingly Jaken scrambled to his feet and accepted the rope, then did his best to swing the rope.  
Rin immediately jumped in, then began on the rhyme again.  
"I like coffee, I like tea, I like Sesshoumaru-sama to jump with me!"  
If there had been any other people there in the gardens, they would surely wonder about this strange sight.  
Sesshoumaru jumped in, his agility making sure he didn't make the same mistake as Jaken, and he gracefully avoided the rope.  
Yet he soon found out he had a slight disadvantage here as the rope nearly smacked him in the face during its course.  
He was much taller than Rin and Jaken, and this proved rather difficult as the shortest of them were swinging the rope. This  
again lead to a rather comic sight as the lord of the western lands was forced to duck, jump, duck, jump and so on.  
Rin giggled happily, then continued on the rhyme.  
"One, two, three, change places!"  
Quickly Rin jumped past Sesshoumaru, then turned around to face him again.  
"We're supposed to change places when we're that far in the rhyme!"  
Sesshoumaru gave her a slight nod to show her he had understood the rules to this peculiar game.  
"Four, five, six, change places!"  
Just as the two were to jump past eachother fate seemed to be in a mischievous mood. Due to the fact that Sesshoumaru had to not jump  
into Rin nor let the rope smack into his feet, he had to jump slightly forward to the left as the little girl jumped past him.  
Unluckily for him he misjudged the timing before the rope went flying up again because he was now closer to the path of its course,  
and when it went upwards again it smacked right into his face. And just to make it perfect, Jaken was so shocked that he tugged at the rope  
to make it stop. Instead it went flying even faster, hitting Sesshoumaru's feet and making the youkai fall ungracefully forward, landing roughly  
in the grass  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?!" Jaken exclaimed, letting go of the rope as his small hands went to his mouth. He had smacked his lord with the rope!!  
"You lost, it's your time to swing the rope again, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin said rather matter-of-factly while adjusting her kimono.  
She blinked however as she heard him mutter some strange words under his breath from where he lay, rubbing his eyes where he had been hit by the rope.   
Hadn't some of the men in the village used those words?  
Not that she knew what they meant, but since Sesshoumaru-sama used them...  
"GOMEN NE, SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Jaken interrupted her from her pondering as he fell to his knees, begging forgiveness.  
  
Some seconds of extreme tension passed before Sesshoumaru stopped holding his eyes, blinking a few times, then he slowly turned his head to glare  
down at Jaken over his shoulder, his servant huddling down in fear and knowing he couldn't run. Rin watched curiously as Sesshoumaru turned around, then  
quickly flung his arm and gave Jaken a loud smack that sent the ugly youkai flying through the air several yards before he carshed into a tree.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....." **CRASH**  
Sesshoumaru stood still for a moment, his arm still extended, just as if he was trying to enjoy the moment.   
(Author's note: Who wouldn't in a case like this?)  
Then he sighed, got to his feet and brushed himself off.  
"Rin."  
"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she wondered, blinking innocently up at him.  
"Go take a bath, dinner is being served in one hour."  
"Hai!"  
The little girl began running back to the castle, then suddenly she blinked and stopped, looking back at him.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
"Hm?" he mused, wondering what was on her mind now.  
"What does 'motherfucking cocksucker' mean?"  
Rin couldn't help but get even more curious as she Sesshoumaru's eyes widen, and his face went pale.  
Time froze for the lord of the western lands then. Damn, he didn't want the pup to learn such language, it was worse enough that she overheard Jaken's  
foul tongue now and then. There and then Sesshoumaru made a mental note to never play jumprope again and to smack Jaken twice instead of cursing. 


	3. Dolls

Playful passtime - Chapter 3  
  
Thanks again for all the praises ^_^ It's getting really fun to write this, but I'm not sure if there will be many chapters after this one.  
It all depends if I get enough suggestions, feedback and ideas.  
  
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken are copyrighted to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi, they don't even live under my bed, but a chibi  
Sesshoumaru lives in my purse (keychain). I don't earn any profit from this story, I'm just writing it for fun.  
  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Studying wasn't much fun. Especially not when Jaken was teaching her. With a heavy sigh Rin gazed out of the window, bored.  
Who had decided that rainy days like these were meant for studying anyway? The last week had been rather dull: rain, lots of  
studying, plus she barely had been able to see Sesshoumaru-sama. When she had asked where the youkai lord was, he only grumbled  
something about important matters that a little brat like her couldn't understand. By that answer Rin quickly understood that  
Jaken didn't know either. Most likely he was busy training with his swords or stuck in the library, reading in those big dusty tomes  
that made her sneeze.  
"Are you even listening?!" Jaken interrupted her in her thoughts, waving his arms in annoyance to get the child's attention again.  
"Ah, gomen, Jaken-sama!" excused Rin, then sighed and straightened up where she sat. The toad servant glared at her, inwardly  
wanting to smack her for daydreaming again. What was wrong with this human whelp anyway? If Sesshoumaru-sama himself hadn't  
insisted that she was going to be educated, he, the faithful Jaken, wouldn't have to sit here and waste his time. The pup  
was impossible to teach to, especially the last week.  
"Now repeat all I've told you," Jaken grumbled, standing as tall as he could to glare down at her, an attempt of gaining  
some more authority. That was the only thing he could do to feel better.  
  
********************************  
  
It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Once Sesshoumaru had been used to it, and cherished the silence. Then why couldn't he do that any longer?  
He found it harder and harder to concentrate on the scripts, then finally with a loud sigh and put them down, closing his eyes.  
Then he got to his feet and left the studies, deciding he couldn't get anything done. Why was his concentration this horrible today?  
Strangely enough, he had found it had been decreasing the last week.  
He wasn't feeling guilty for avoiding Rin, was he? After all, he had serious business to do, being the lord of the western lands  
after all. And in addition, Rin needed to study herself if she was going to grow up to become a lady. She needed to learn proper  
etiquette, some languages, history, grammar and all those things.  
Sesshoumaru sighed heavily. Who was he trying to fool? Ever since the accident while playing jumprope, he had made sure to keep  
the pup busy with chores and studying. But something else had been bothering him the last week. Whenever he was trying to concentrate  
and work, he felt this rather agitating feeling in the pit of his stomach, a nagging feeling that he should be doing something else.  
And when he walked past the room where Jaken was either busy scolding or babbling to the pup, he felt his composure sink a little.  
What was that feeling? Was it... what his father, the great Inu-Taisho had described as... guilt? He wasn't sure, he had never  
experienced it before. And of course someone like him, the lord of the western lands, never felt guilt! So how come he  
felt it, and because of a human pup?  
  
"Stupid brat!!"  
Sesshoumaru's head jerked up and his usual expressionless face replaced his contemplative one at a sound he was quite used to:  
Jaken and Rin's usual bickering. With a barely audible groan, even for youkai ears, Sesshoumaru entered the hallway to where his  
servant and the pup usually were when he was tutoring her. As he slid the doors open, no emotion crossed his face as he spotted  
Rin standing, arms crossed and tongue stuck out at the sputtering toad youkai, who was full with dark ink which ran in small streams  
down his body.  
"What is going on here?" he demanded, his eyes first looking at Jaken, then glanced slightly at Rin who quickly pulled her tongue back  
into her mouth and stood straight, before returning his attention back to his servant who was trying to wipe the offending ink off  
himself.  
"Jaken-sama is dumb!"  
"It's YOU who's stupid, whelp! If you only listened for once and..."  
"Silence."  
No harshness nor raise of voice was needed as both shut up at once hearing the word from Sesshoumaru, both knew better than to  
question his authority.  
The lord sighed a little, then he turned to walk out.  
"Take the rest of the day off, Rin. Jaken, go tend in the kitchen."  
"H-hai Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken affirmed before scuttling off, still wiping ink off himself.  
Rin blinkblinked, then beamed and halfran after her guardian out into the hallway, looking up at him as he stared right infront of  
himself as he walked on, not making any sign to acknowledge her presence.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
"Yes, Rin?"  
"Do you have time to play today?"  
He should have expected, he really should. Though inwardly he smiled, it didn't show on his face as he looked down at her.  
"We're not playing 'jumprope' again, Rin."  
Not managing to stiffle her giggle, Rin smiled widely up at him, shaking her head.  
"It's still raining outside, and it's not easy to jump when the grass is wet!"  
Silently adding that the game wasn't easy to begin with, Sesshoumaru nodded.  
"What do you want to play then?"  
  
*******************************  
  
There's a saying that time flies when you're having fun. So the contrary should be true too: time barely seems to move when you're  
experiencing a living hell. Strange, he had envisioned something... with more physical pain, the imps he saw whenever he used the  
tenseiga chaining him up, fire, darkness. Thereby Sesshoumaru thought it was rather strange that he instead was seated on the floor  
in Rin's room, where it was rather light even though it was raining outside. And this pain felt more like embarrassment. Not that  
he thought they were so different, at least in his opinion. For which mighty youkai lord did ever degrade himself to do this?  
"Then little Yui has to go to bed!" Rin beamed, finally done dressing one of her dolls, handing it over to Sesshoumaru, who had his  
entire lap full of the little dolls he had given Rin over the few years he had been caring for her.  
Sesshoumaru swore that his father had NEVER degraded himself to play with dolls just to entertain a human whelp. Not that his father had  
sired any daughters, but even that had been a fact, he would have ordered the mother or servants to do that kind of undignified things.  
Then why on Earth did he do it?!  
With an unaudible sigh Sesshoumaru accepted the small doll and placed her into one of the small carved beds, tucking her into a napkin while  
Rin hummed a little tune while picking up some of the other dolls. During the last hour the little dolls had served tea, had a little  
party and made food. To his great embarrassment he, the great Sesshoumaru, had to play with silly human dolls. He didn't know  
how many times the urge to simply drop the dolls and walk out had crossed his mind, but just as he was about to carry the plan out,   
he had caught the glance of Rin's happy look as she beamed up at him, her eyes big and doe like as she handed him another doll he had  
to tend to. To deny the girl anything was harder than he had thought it to be in the first place.  
At least nobody else was there, and his horrible secret was safe.  
"Oh, this doll is dirty!" Rin suddenly said, blinking at one of the dolls who obviously had been treated rather roughly, "Rin's going to the  
kitchen to get some water!"  
Quickly the human whelp got to her feet and left the room, her footsteps growing distant as she made her way down the hallway.  
Sesshoumaru sighed, brushing himself off to at least gain some of his dignity back. After Rin was finished cleaning the doll he would  
order her to go to bed, she needed her sleep after all.  
  
Then all of a sudden a sound reached his ears, and his head jerked up. Footsteps, but those didn't belong to Rin... they were the scuttering  
feet of Jaken! On pure reflex the youkai grabbed the dolls in his lap and tossed them over to where the other dolls where, but in his hurry  
the move proved to be rather clumsy, sending the small dolls flying everywhere. And just to torment him even more, fate decided to lead one of  
the dolls, Rin's favourite if Sesshoumaru wasn't mistaken, towards the window.  
He didn't have time to worry about that however as the doors slid open.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked, looking up at his lord who stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed in front of his chest and resting in  
opposite youkata sleeves.  
"Yes, Jaken?"  
"One of the vassals has reported that he will not be able to make it to the meeting tomorrow, one of his messengers just came by."  
With a slight frown Sesshoumaru nodded, then turned around, signaling for Jaken that he was to leave.  
In the same moment as the doors closed, Sesshoumaru quickly ran over to the window, looking down. Of course there had to be thorn bushes right  
under Rin's window. Gritting his teeth and one eyebrow twitching, he felt rather tempted to simply ignore the stupid doll. But then the image  
of a sobbing Rin came to mind as she ran around, looking hight and low for her favourite doll, the first one he had given her.  
It ended with his conscience gaining the upper hand, and he crawled out the window, dropping the few feet down to the ground and right  
into the thorn bushes.  
  
*****************************  
  
When Rin came back into her room with a bowl of water, she blinked when she saw her lord. He was still seated on the floor, but his once   
regal clothes seemed slightly torned up, and his silvery hair was a little tangled.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, blinking innocently as she put down the bowl of water.  
"It's nothing Rin, you go to bed after you finish clean the doll," he instructed, getting to his feet.  
"Hai!" nodded Rin, smiling sweetly back as she quickly undressed the dirty doll with small and nimble fingers. Nodding in aproval Sesshoumaru  
brushed himself off and headed for the door.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
"Hm?"  
Upon hearing her voice he looked over shoulder, glancing curiously back at her as she rose and walked over to him.  
"Nightie hug!" Rin beamed, holding out her arms, standing on her toes. Blinking in surprise the youkai simply stared at her for a moment,  
then allowed himself a slight smile before crouching down and wrapping the human pup in a gentle embrace.  
  
******************************  
  
Author's note: I just HAD to add the last part 


	4. Stylish!

Playful passtime chapter 4  
  
Thanks again for your wonderful reviews! ^_^ It really inspires me to write more just to keep you guys happy ;)  
  
It's kinda hard writing this, you know? I have to keep it humorous, yet not end up writing Sesshoumaru OOC, you know? Though he is  
good at heart. How else would he be able to wield the Tenseiga? I believe he's rather dual in his opinion about Rin. He cares about  
her, but he doesn't want to admit it, not to himself, and NEVER to anyone else.  
  
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin and Jaken do not belong to me, but to Rumiko Takahashi along with the rest of the Inu Yasha gang. I merely  
enjoy writing fanfics and keeping the characters as IC as possible. **deep bow**  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to him. To a worthless human, yes. Even to a disgusting hanyou, of course. Someone of the likes  
of Jaken, no doubt. But not to him.  
"And JUMP!"  
Sesshoumaru had to fight back his instincts to bat Rin away as she placed her small hands on his back to aid her as she jumped over his  
back, landing successfully on her feet in front of him. With a sigh he jumped effortlessly over her, then crouched down so she  
could repeat the process. Rin had called this game leapfrog. At least it was useful, improving agility and all. Jumprope had  
been stupid, and the doll thing had also been. So why had he given her all those dolls, he pondered for himself as he made another  
jump, the whole game now a routine as he and the little girl alternated between jumping and crouching. Had he given them to her just  
because he knew it was a tradition among the humans to give the small female pups things that ressembled them? Most likely it was to  
awaken their mother instinct by giving them something to care for and prepare them for the time when they would marry and start a family.  
Sesshoumaru frowned slightly. As if he would let a human boy get HIS Rin. She was his possession, and nobody touched a youkai's possession  
without permission. Not that she would live long enough to get married, he snorted for himself as he saw her jump over his back again, nearly  
loosing her balance. He would kill her someday, yes, as soon as he grew tired of her. That was it. With a slight nod he approved of that  
desicion.  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
"Yes, Rin?" he answered, standing to his full height as the pup turned to look up at him.  
"Can we play another game now, Rin gets bored of this one... it's no fun when there are only two playing it."  
Giving her a nod he sighed mentally. What game would she demand now?  
Before he had the time to ask Rin had grabbed his arm, pulling him with her down the hallway and nearly making the youkai lord topple over.  
Within a minute Rin had pulled her adoptive father to her room, then let go off his hand as she headed for one of her chests.  
He couldn't conceal his confused look as she started pulling out long and colourful ribbons, hair pins, an oval and ornated handheld mirror and a   
small brush he had given her not too long ago.  
What was she going to do with them, he mused for himself, not able to stop himself as he peeked over her shoulder curiously.  
"Sit down, Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin will brush your hair!" she beamed as she turned around, holding the worn out brush in her small hand.  
And so he did. This was something which was quite usual for him. He closed his eyes, relaxing as she moved to kneel behind him and start to brush his  
long silver hair.  
  
**FLASHBACK**  
  
"Sit still, or it will hurt even more," the rather annoyed youkai lord huffed out as the human pup squirmed some more.  
"But you're pulling on Rin's hair..." sniffled the girl, blinking away some tears.  
Deciding that caring for the pup had been harder than he had expected, Sesshoumaru sighed as he continued trying to work her hair free from the tangles  
she had managed to gain during the last days. Oh yes, those days had been hard, proving to say at least. Constantly the child would need food, water, rest,  
to relieve herself, sleep... and to clean herself. He had found her odour to be offensive, though not as distasteful as most humans. So he had ordered Jaken  
to give her a bath while sitting down underneath a tree not far away from the river. And now that the pup, who had refered to herself as 'Rin', was cleaned,  
he had sent Jaken off to the nearest human village so the pup could get something else to wear than the reeking old rags she had been forced to wear until  
now. The two of them had been sitting there under the tree, a high and noble youkai lord and a small, ruffled girl clad in her old rags.   
As the minutes had passed as she watched him curiously, while he had been busy keeping watch towards the shady trees incase any other youkai showed up.  
"Where's Jaken-sama..?"  
"Off to get you some proper clothing."  
"When he will be back?"  
"As soon as he found some proper clothing for you."  
Rin blinked, then sighed and tried to untangle some of her hair, which Sesshoumaru noticed in the corner of his eye. When she had rubbed her hair  
dry, she had messed it up even worse than it had been before she took that bath, even. And now she was having problems getting rid of the tangles.  
"Come here, pup," he ordered, not entirely sure of WHY he was doing this. She blinked at him for a moment, then scooted over and settled in his lap  
with her back to him.  
And here he was, grooming the human whelp which he had saved just some days prior. She had calmed down by now, leaning back into his broad chest with her  
cheek resting against his tail. When he was done he let his slim fingers slide through her dark tresses a couple more times before crossing his arms again,  
moving his gaze back towards the forest. Now all that lacked was Jaken to return and get the girl properly dressed before they resume their journey.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama...?"  
He looked down at her, seeing her big brown eyes gaze up at him curiously.  
"Do you want Rin to groom your hair too?"  
Arching an eyebrow momentarily, Sesshoumaru watched her before giving her a slight nod of aproval. Then before he knew it the girl had crawled out of  
his lap and moved to stand behind him, her small fingers gliding through his hair to undo the tangles.  
  
**END OF FLASHBACK**  
  
Yes, he did remember the first time he'd let her groom him. Since then he let her do it daily, it saved him time during their breaks on their journeys.  
He would settle down by a tree, and Rin would kneel behind him and undo the tangles in his long hair while he kept watch. He had to admit,  
it was soothing to feel the small hands work in his hair, and usually Rin kept quiet as she did, obviously concentrating on her task at hand.  
By now he realized he had let his hair tilt slightly backwards, but he didn't care.  
"Rin's finished soon, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she suddenly said with a giggle, and he let his eyes open, his gaze travelling down to see Rin scoot in front  
of him with her mirror.  
"Look!"  
Afterwards he instantly regretted that he chose to. He was aware of his heart skipping several beats, and blood rushed to his face, but for what reason?  
Anger or embarrassement?  
"Sesshoumaru-sama looks so pretty!"  
All the youkai could do was to stare both scared and unbelieving at himself as Rin chattered on, putting some more ribbons into his adorned hair.  
Mighty youkai lords didn't get their hair done, especially not with ribbons!! But still, a mirror couldn't lie, could it?  
Hesistantly Sesshoumaru reached a slightly trembling hand to touch a braid which framed his face. Rin had... the pup had... she had braided his  
long hair with colourful ribbons!  
"When Rin's done Sesshoumaru-sama can do Rin's hair!" she giggled again, braiding some more ribbons into his hair and tilted her head, trying to figure  
out what to do next.  
Thank heavens that nobody else was here, otherwise he would have to dispose of them...  
He was shook out of his semi-shock as Rin crawled into his lap, handing him some of the colourful ribbons and the brush.  
"Your turn, Sesshoumaru-sama!"  
As the items were pushed into his hands, he blinked, having to hold back the urge to rip the ribbons out of his hair and undo the offensive braids.  
"Rin," he sighed as he began, "youkai lords don't braid ribbons into their hair."  
"Why not?" she wondered, blinking innocently up at him.  
"Because, it's..."  
"It's what?"  
"It's just the way it is," he said with a determined look and a slightly stern voice as he reached up to start to undo the braids, then caught the look  
on her face. He recognized that look: big wet eyes, quivering underlip, a pained face and tense shoulders.  
There hadn't been many times when he had seen her like this, but it could only mean one thing...  
"Rin, stop, it..."  
And it went on to phase two as she sniffled, her eyes blinking and he saw the salty tears increase.  
"Okay," he admitted his defeat and let his hands fall away from the offensive braids, picking up the brush and distasteful ribbons again, "just this once."  
It was kinda strange that her face could revert to it's happy state again, he mused as Rin smiled up at him, nodding and turning around in his lap  
again. Taking a deep breath he took some of her hair in his hand, then blinked.  
"Rin?"  
"Hai?"  
"How do you braid?"  
  
******************************************************  
  
By now Rin's hair was full of colourful braids which Sesshoumaru had been able to make after some trying and failing. She sure looked cute like this,  
he thought for himself as he arranged her hair some. Plus she seemed happy too, humming a tune under her breath as she sat there patiently and braiding  
one of her dolls.  
"Are you finished soon, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, tilting her head slighty back to look up at him.  
"Hai, now sit still," he ordered, pushing her head back so he could continue to braid a purple ribbon into the rest of her hair.  
"Hai!" nodded Rin, and Sesshoumaru allowed himself to smile for a moment.  
He froze however as the sound of the doors sliding open caught his ears. Not daring to move at first and hoping it was just something from his imagination,  
he sniffed the air and caught the familiar scent of Jaken.  
Impatiently he turned his head, trying not to loose his calm nor blush as he glared into the big and confused eyes of his servant.  
"Something the matter, Jaken?" (Author's note: You can just see that, can't you? Sesshoumaru with braided hair while doing Rin's hair, glaring at Jaken. LOL)  
"Uh, iee, S-s-sesshoumaru-sama!"the toad youkai quickly spluttered, bowing.  
"Rin."  
"Hai?" the pup blinked up at him as he moved her out of his lap and rose to his feet, brushing himself off.  
"Stay here, I will be back later," he said, giving Jaken one of the looks which the servant knew meant trouble.  
  
As the doors slid shut, Rin shrugged and went back to braiding her doll, not paying attention to the screams and growls outside, nor the sound  
of skittering feet down the hall or the loud smack.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
A/N: So, here I gave you yet another chapter. Thanks to Sango from the RP group with the dressup idea! ^_^ I don't remember who gave me the leapfrog   
idea, LOL. Please continue giving me ideas and suggestions for games if you want me to write more, HINT HINT!If it hadn't been for your reviews, this  
story wouldn't have gone further than the first chapter, after all! Think about that! ;) So tell me about your favourite games (with the exception  
of those who have been written about in the story so far), and suggestions about funny things that might happen are welcome too!  
  
Maybe I should try to write a more serious Inu Yasha fanfic soon? Hmmmm... need more time and/or a great idea! **feels that she is neglectic her big  
Slayers fanfic and sighs** Inspiration is weird, ne? ^_^() 


	5. Water fight

Playful passtime chapter 5  
  
Hiyas, I've been writing even though I've been on vacation, be happy! ;) Please check out my other fic, 'Death vs Fluffy'  
which is a fic with a guestappearance by Death from the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. I wrote it along  
with my best friend, and we're quite happy with it. It's short though ;)  
  
Anyway, I did a little sketch for chapter 4 of where Jaken walks in on Sesshoumaru and Rin doing eachother's hair:  
http://www.krangnes.com/sketches/braids.jpg  
I might work on it in Photoshop, who knows?  
  
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, I'm so glad people think I'm doing a good job keeping Sesshoumaru IC! **lets out a  
sigh of relief**  
  
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un are copyright Rumiko Takahashi, I don't earn a thing from this story!  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Rin carefully leaned forward, her eyes wide and alert incase anything, or anyone came close. Right now it was quiet,  
but Sesshoumaru-sama had taught her to be careful, as most dangerous things knew how to sneak upon their victims without  
making their presence known. So she kept still, clinging her precious cargo close.   
She didn't like being alone. She had never liked it, not since loosing her family. She didn't want to loose the family  
she had now, even though it was a weird one.  
  
Her ears then caught the faint sound of footsteps, and Rin could feel her small shoulders tense. Someone, or something  
was drawing closer! Her small fingers tightened around the item in her arms...  
  
**SPLASH**  
  
Sesshoumaru's delicate ears caught the sound of Jaken's spluttering and Rin's joyous laughter as he entered the gardens.  
Since he himself had been busy as Rin asked for someone to play her strange games with her, he had ordered Jaken to amuse  
the pup for now. As for what she had in store today he had no idea, and he arched an eyebrow as he found them among the  
blooming orhcards next to the big fishpond. Jaken, soaked to the bone, was standing in a puddle of water, waving his arms   
frantically at Rin who was doing her best at not breaking into fits of laughter at how comic the servant looked.   
Sesshoumaru had to stiffle back a chuckle himself.  
"Rin."  
Upon hearing her master's voice the girl immediately brightened up, a big smile spreading across her face as her flew around  
her when she quickly turned around.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama!"  
In a matter of seconds she had run over to him, her empty bucket still in hand.  
"Rin and Jaken-sama are having a water fight!" she announced with a wide grin, pointing over to the annoyed toad  
youkai who was wringing the water out of his clothes. Amused but not showing it, Sesshoumaru gave Rin a nod.  
"I see."  
"Jaken-sama was juuuust about to splash Rin, but Rin splashed him first because Rin remembered all the things that  
Sesshoumaru-sama taught Rin!"  
The pup was clearly proud of herself, and the youkai lord was glad that she at least knew she had to be quiet when  
she was hideing. Otherwise it seemed like she didn't know that ears needed peace too.  
But it was ok, she had spent several hours today practicing her writing, and pups needed to play too.  
"Will Sesshoumaru-sama play with Rin and Jaken-sama now?"  
  
Those eyes again. How were brown, big human eyes able to make his stomach clench that way? Why should he degrade himself  
to splashing water on this pup and his servant?  
"Rin, you shouldn't get too wet. It looks like it will get cloudy soon."  
"So...?" Rin blinked curiously, obviously not comprehending.  
"You'll get cold then, and you might get ill." Humans got ill way too easily, Sesshoumaru thought. Most of the time  
it didn't bother him, but if Rin got ill, well... he would most likely have to keep her company. And a lord as himself  
didn't have time for that!  
"But it's sunny today, see?" Rin said and pointed up to the clear blue sky. Sesshoumaru was just about to protest to his  
ward when his ears caught the sound of a splash right behind him, and the next thing he knew, he was soaked.  
His regal robes clung to his skin, his hair dripped and stuck to the front of his face, and his usual soft and  
fluffy tail would surely need alot of grooming and drying to get it back to it's normal state.  
He dangerously turned his head to find the one responsible for this, and his eyes glared at Ah-Un who was splashing around  
in the pond.  
"Rin taught Ah-Un how to splash around so he could help Rin in the waterfight against Jaken-sama!" Rin said, not  
seeing the agitated look in her master's eyes. More able to see the signs of Sesshoumaru's dangerous moods, Jaken  
quickly took a few steps back.  
This was simply great. Not only was his favourite garments soaked and probably ruined, his pond was now ruined by the  
big beast of burden who was waltzing around in it, no wait, it was no longer a beast of burden: Rin had trained it to   
be a stupid water canon.  
"Get out of there," he commanded the big beast with a slight snarl, and it instantly obeyed, trampling through a couple  
of flower-beds in the process to Sesshoumaru's great dismay.  
"Jaken."  
"H-h-hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken asked as he took a step forward, bowing.  
"Go prepare one bath for me, and one for Rin."  
"Hai!"  
Then the toad youkai scurried off to obey his master's orders, glad he had gotten out of the silly waterfight.  
He just HATED to get wet, the youkai lord thought as he shook himself off like a dog, soaking Rin as he did so.  
She giggled and picked up her bucket.  
"Since that you're wet, can you have a waterfight with Rin, Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked, holding up the bucket to him.  
He idly watched it for a second, his eyes drifting over to the pond, then back to her. Well, since they were alone...  
Before Rin got to register what was happening, he had snatched her up and tossed her into the shallow end of the pond.  
She eeped, then blinked before looking over her shoulder at Sesshoumaru, who was crouched. His smirk was there, though  
only if you knew how to read his almost stoic expressions.  
At that Rin started to giggle, getting to her feet and got a better grip on her bucket as she filled it to get Sesshoumaru  
just as soaked as she was now.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
A/N: Sorry, this was a short chapter, I know... _ 


	6. Spin the bottle

Playful passtime chapter 6  
  
Yups, still on vacation! Just got a funny idea from Rena (my best friend) for this chapter ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken and everyone else from the Inu Yasha series are copyright Rumiko Takahashi,  
not me. I just have fun writing these stories.  
  
~....~ = thoughts  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Trotting along after Sesshoumaru in the high grass Rin did her best to keep up. It was going to get late soon, and she  
knew that sooner or later they would rest for the night. Yesterday the lord of the western lands had decided it was time  
to patrol his territory again. It was kinda tireing to have to walk all day, but as long as she could be near her  
Sesshoumaru-sama, she didn't care. Plus, when he noticed that she was about to be plagued by fatigue, he would lift her  
up and settle her ontop of Ah-Un's back. But today she had been strong, managing to keep up with the youkai and  
showed Jaken-sama that she wasn't as weak as she looked!  
  
Suddenly Sesshoumaru halted, his eyes wandering through the forest. Then he looked over his shoulder at Jaken.  
"We're staying here for the night."  
"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken bowed, then began scurrying around insearch of firewood.  
The little girl watched the toad youkai for a moment, then looked up as she heard her caretaker's deep voice.  
"Rin, find some food before it gets too dark."  
"Can we play after that, Sesshoumaru-sama?"  
He gave her a slight nod, and she smiled at him before turning to run into the forest.  
With a sigh Sesshoumaru settled down, removing his armour for now. What kind of game would the pup ask for today?  
  
***********************  
  
"I just hate this," grumbled Inu Yasha while glaring at the fire.  
"We know, but it's nothing we can do about it. The sun is about to set soon, and you'll turn human. It's best  
not to go searching for that Shikon shard Kagome-sama sensed earlier today, Inu Yasha," Miroku said patronizingly  
with a slight smile.  
"Miroku-sama is right," nodded Kagome and poured some of the soup they had made into a bowl before handing it over to  
the hanyou after tossing some noodles into it. With a slight humph Inu Yasha accepted the food and started to eat.  
The group had decided to settle down early for the night. So now they sat there gathered around the fire, Inu Yasha,   
Kagome next to him with Shippou settled in her lap while munching on a candy bar, while Sango tried to scoot  
a little further away from Miroku, Kirara on her shoulder.  
  
After picking some berries Rin was still hungry. She had to admit that she missed the food she got whenever they stayed  
at Sesshoumaru-sama's mansion, but there was no use complaining as long as she didn't starve. Suddenly she perked up,  
her nose catching the scent of food nearby. It smelled delicious! Carefully Rin headed towards the smell, and while  
crawling up behind some bushes she noticed a gang of travellers. Not able to contain her curiousity she stuck her head a  
little further up. Two girls, a little fox demon, a cute kitty, a priest, and... someone who looked like Sesshoumaru-sama?  
The eyes were the same, he had long silvery hair too... these people didn't seem too bad, and their soup  
smelled so delicious...  
Just as Rin was about to pull back, she stepped on a twig, and Inu Yasha jerked his head towards the source of the sound,  
his dog ears perked up.  
Then in a matter of seconds he had jumped the distance, grabbed ahold of Rin and pulled her out from her hiding place.  
"HEY!" Inu Yasha barked, narrowing his eyes and sniffing at the kid, only to notice that his sensitive nose was failing  
on him. Damn the night of the new moon, he thought.  
"A little girl?" Sango blinked, getting up from her seat while Miroku forgot to eat his soup.  
Kagome got to her feet and walked over, laying a hand on Inu Yasha's shoulder.  
"Where did you come from? Are you lost?" she asked Rin, who was trying to wriggle out of Inu Yasha's grip, still a little  
shocked from getting caught in such a way.  
"N-no, Rin's not lost, Rin's just looking for food..." she meekly said, looking up into Kagome's tender eyes. That girl  
seemed nice, Rin decided.  
"What's a kid like you doing out here in the forest?" Inu Yasha demanded, cursing himself for not being able to smell  
as good as usual. The sun was going to set soon, and it was bad enough that the rest of the group saw him turn human!  
"....." Rin didn't respond at first, then eeped as she was let down on the ground.  
"Now now, calm down Inu Yasha!" Miroku smiled, walking over and crouched down infront of Rin, watching her, "it's just a  
little girl, and there is a village not too far away. You know how kids are, ne?"  
"Plus she is hungry!" Kagome added, then turned to Rin, "you said your name is Rin?"  
Rin nodded, looking up at the girl in the strange kimono. Maybe she was a miko?  
"Do you want some of our soup, Rin-chan?"  
Rin nodded eagerly, following Kagome over to the fire and sat down next to Shippou, blinking. Shippou watched Rin too,  
then leaned close to sniff at her. Giggling, Rin pulled the kitsune close for a hug.  
"You're cute!" she beamed while Shippou eeped and tried to squirm out of her grip.  
"That's Shippou-chan," Kagome smiled, then pointed over to Sango, "that's Sango-chan and her cat Kirara, she's a demon  
exterminator. That man over there, Miroku, is a priest," she continued and pointed over to Miroku who gave Rin his  
biggest smile, then Kagome pointed at the grumbling hanyou.  
"And he's Inu Yasha, he's a half demon. My name is Kagome."  
Rin smiled brightly as Sango handed her a big bowl of soup with noodles.  
"Arigatou!"  
  
*************************************  
  
Why was the pup late? Sesshoumaru growled for himself, his eyes staring off towards where Rin had run off to. She never  
used this much time to eat, plus he couldn't believe she would be late when he had promised her that he would play her  
silly human games with her. Not that he was looking forward to it, he was just conserned that... no. He? Conserned?  
What a foolish thought. He just didn't want her to come stumbling back later and whine because she had gotten lost in the  
forest. If that happened, it would take forever for her to fall asleep, which meant he wouldn't get much sleep either.  
Deciding that he couldn't tolerate this any longer, the youkai got to his feet, making Jaken pull back.  
"S-s-sesshoumaru-sama??"  
"Wait here, I'm going to look for her," Sesshoumaru said sternly, stalking off into the forest as the sun set behind   
the mountains, colouring everything red and orange.  
  
**************************************  
  
Rather curious and confused Rin leaned closer, blinking up at the now human Inu Yasha.  
"Your hair turned black...?" she asked and reached a small hand up to stroke his dark tresses.  
"Yes, Inu Yasha is a hanyou, and one night a month they loose their powers and turn human," Kagome nodded, fishing  
out some candy out of her bag.  
"Yeah yeah," Inu Yasha grumbled, pulling away from Rin a little.  
"Do you want some candy, Rin-chan?" Kagome asked and held out a chocolate bar for Rin, who blinked at the treat.  
"What's that?"  
"It's chocolate, it's very good, you open it like this," Kagome said as she unwrapped the bar, then handed it to the  
girl. After watching the others eat their chocolate, Rin bit into the candy, and her eyes went wide before she  
hungrily ate some more.  
"It tastes good!" Rin beamed widely, and Kagome smiled.  
  
Not too far away Sesshoumaru silently made his way through the bushes, on constant alert. He heard voices not too far away,  
humans if his nose wasn't mistaken. And of course it wasn't. He had to frown as he recognized a few more of the scents,  
Rin, the delinquent priest, the demon exterminator, the kitsune cub, his stupid excuse for a half brother's wench, and...  
Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. A human scent he didn't know. It smelled familiar through...  
His eyes went wide in concern however as he spotted the source of the strange smell.  
Inu Yasha... was human! which meant that this was the night that he lost his powers. Turning his head  
Sesshoumaru looked up at the starlit sky, watching the new moon. Hmmm, which meant that he was most likely not going to  
get spotted by them if he didn't get too close. But... how to get Rin back?  
For the moment she seemed to be alright. She was getting fed by Inu Yasha's strangely clad wench, she was warm and safe,  
which was important. But of course, sooner or later they wouldn't care properly for her, plus his stupid  
half brother was always getting involved in fights. As careless as Inu Yasha was, he would surely forget to leave the pup  
behind and she would get hurt.  
Without noticing it Sesshoumaru growled silently, crouching down some more while glaring at his now human half brother.  
Rin belonged with him. He was the one who had saved her, cared for her and taken care of her all this time. It was him  
she snuggled up next to when it became cold during the nights, him she turned to whenever she wanted to play, him  
whenever she needed to feel safe.  
  
"Kagome-chan?" Rin asked, looking up at Kagome after finishing her bar of chocolate.  
"Yes Rin-chan?"  
"Can we play?"  
Inwardly Sesshoumaru snarled, moving closer to the fire so he could hear them better.  
"Sure we can," Kagome smiled, "any ideas?"  
"What about that card game, Kagome-chan?" asked Sango while stroking Kirara's fur while the demoncat slept.  
"I think that's a little hard for Rin-chan to understand," Miroku objected.  
"Hey, I got it!" Kagome said and picked up an empty bottle, "spin the bottle!"  
"Spin the bottle?" everyone else said, blinking at Kagome.  
~Spin the bottle?~ Sesshoumaru wondered, not remembering Rin mentioning that game before.  
"Yes, it's quite simple. The ones who are playing it sit in a circle, like this, then one person spins the bottle like  
this," Kagome explained and spun the bottle as she continued, "then that person can ask the person that the bottleneck  
points at 'truth or dare'. Then the person has to either answer a question truthfully or do anything he or she's asked  
to do. And keep the things non-perverted since there are children present," Kagome added while giving Miroku  
a warning look. The priest blinked as the others, with the exception of Rin, glared at him.  
Then everyone's eyes moved to the bottle, who pointed at Inu Yasha. He blinked, then looked over at Kagome.  
"What?"  
"Truth or dare, Inu Yasha?" Kagome asked, and he grumbled, looking at the ground.  
"... dare," he snorted out, not feeling like having to answer questions in front of so many people.  
"I dare you to... jump around the fire on one foot as you cry out like a rooster!"  
Blinking once, Inu Yasha snorted.  
"Keh!"  
"You have to do it, Inu Yasha," Miroku chuckled, and Sango nodded.  
"Come on now!"  
Rather hesistantly Inu Yasha rose to his feet, then began jumping around while trying to do his best impression  
of a rooster, which sounded quite comical. Everyone laughed, and Rin nearly fell into Kagome. These people were so  
funny! She wished she could hear Sesshoumaru laugh for once, she wished he could show that he was having fun more...  
In the bushes Sesshoumaru smirked. It was quite fitting for that moron to make a fool of himself, he thought as he  
watched Inu Yasha jumping around on one leg.  
After Inu Yasha finished his task, he sat back down, a blush covering his face.  
"What now?"  
"You spin the bottle, then ask the person truth or dare," Kagome instructed.  
As said as done, Inu Yasha spun the bottle, and everyone watched it intently as it slowed down... pointing at Miroku.  
"Oy, Miroku, truth or dare?" demanded Inu Yasha at the priest, who seemed to ponder that for a minute.  
"Dare," he said after a while.  
"I dare you to not grope the girls for a week," he said with a smirk, making the priest's face go a little pale.  
Sango on the other hand smiled, Kagome giggled along with Shippou. Rin however blinked, tugging at Kagome's sleeve.  
"Kagome-chan, what does 'grope' mean?" she asked innocently.  
From his spot in the bushes Sesshoumaru made a face, having to fight back a growl of disapproval. He didn't want Rin  
to learn about such things, she was way too young for that!  
"Oh, it's... something which ain't that nice," Kagome said quickly, then looked at Miroku, "it's your turn to spin  
the bottle!"  
  
Miroku did as instructed, and this time the bottle stopped at Rin.  
"Rin-chan, truth or dare?" Miroku asked sweetly at the girl, who tilted her head, thinking for a moment.  
She was starting to get a little tired now...  
"Truth," she finally said.  
"Rin-chan, would you," he asked and reached for Rin's small hands, but he was interrupted as Sango had swung her massive  
Hiraikotsu straight onto his head.  
"Don't you even DARE ask her about that, she can't be more than 7 years old!" Sango snarled, eyebrow twitching.  
Inu Yasha snorted.  
"Man, and I thought you couldn't get worse, Miroku..."  
Not fully understanding this, Rin blinked.  
"Now pull yourself together and ask her another question, Houshi-sama," Sango demanded and pulled Miroku's face up from the  
ground.  
  
Sesshoumaru sat down on the ground, his eyes glued on Rin's small form. Why the priest had been attacked by the  
demon exterminator, he had no clue, all he wanted now was for the pup to return to him. It was getting  
really dark soon, and Jaken was without doubt waiting for them both to return.  
But... he just couldn't simply walk over there and fetch her, his reputation would be injured as well as his pride.  
What would his dimwitted half brother say when he saw him, the great Sesshoumaru, come to retrieve a human pup?  
That he, the lord of the western lands, cared for something as inferior as a little girl? It was simply  
out of the question. He couldn't reveal this dark secret to anyone. But still, Rin usually slept at this hour, snuggled  
up into his tail... these people surely didn't know how to take care of pups!  
Sniffing the air to make sure nobody else was around, Sesshoumaru watched as the group obviously was having fun with  
the silly game.  
Maybe he should just leave her here... it wasn't fitting for him, a youkai of his status, to be bothered with a human  
whelp anyway... she was a human and was meant to be among humans, wasn't she? She would forgive and forget him,  
find a mate and grow old, not remembering that he, Sesshoumaru, had saved her life when she was a pup, taken  
care of her, fed her, taught her everything she needed to know... shaking himself out of his thoughts, he snorted.  
Who was he trying to fool anyway? She was his, and he wasn't leaving without her. Even though he had to wait for them  
all to fall asleep.  
  
------------------------------  
  
A/N: The next chapter is finished, I will post it within the next 3 days if I get enough reviews ^_^ 


	7. Spin the bottle (last part)

Playful passtime chapter 7  
  
Still on vacation, I had this chapter finished, but I wanted to keep you guys waiting a little ^_^ Rena says I'm mean...  
  
Disclaimer: Everybody from the Inu Yasha gang are copyrighted Rumiko Takahashi, bow down before her and don't sue me.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
"So," Miroku said after brushing himself off and scooted away from Sango a few feet, "where do you come from, Rin-chan?"  
At that Rin's smile dropped like a ton of bricks, and she moved her gaze down to her feet, watching the light from the  
fire play across the ground along with the shadows.  
"... I come from a village far from here..."  
"Did your family move here?" Sango asked, wondering why Rin suddenly seemed so hesistant.  
Rin shook her head before answering as calmly as she could.  
"... Rin's family... died a long time ago..."  
The mood around the fire instantly died, and nobody knew exactly what to say. A few seconds passed, and Kagome hugged  
Rin close in attempt to lighten her spirits.  
"I'm sorry to hear Rin-chan..."   
Doing her best to cheer up, Rin smiled a little.  
"It's ok, Rin has a new family she stays with now..."  
"Oh really? We're glad to hear," Miroku smiled, glad the girl seemed happier now.  
Rin nodded.  
"Speaking of family, shouldn't you get home soon? They might get worried about you, Rin-chan!" Kagome suddenly said,  
looking up at the dark night sky. Immediately Rin's eyes went wide. She had forgotten the time! Sesshoumaru-sama was  
probably waiting for her! Maybe he had sent Jaken-sama out to find her!  
"Oh, Rin forgot!" she wailed, getting to her feet, "he must be angry at Rin for being late!"  
"Do you want me to walk you there, Rin-chan?" Kagome offered, smiling at the girl.  
Thankful, Rin nodded and grabbed onto Kagome's hand as they made their way for the forest, with a grumbling Inu Yasha  
at their heels.  
"Oy, it's dangerous in the forest at night!" he called after them, then snorted as they didn't seem to hear.  
  
Simply great! The pup was leading Inu Yasha and his wench straight back to the campsite! Not amused by this Sesshoumaru  
frowned, watching the three as he followed them, easily making his way through the forest without being noticed.  
The fact that his brother was human tonight made it even easier, and of course he was trained in keeping himself  
going unnoticed. What was he going to do now? Even if he wasn't there by the campsite, Jaken and his beast of burden  
was there, and he had to admit, even though Inu Yasha was stupid, he couldn't be that dense that he didn't figure  
out the whole thing.  
  
"Aren't we there yet?" Inu Yasha complained, following after Kagome and the girl, cursing his human body and his  
now dull senses. How did humans stand this?! He felt so... weak.  
"Soon, it's over here!" Rin beamed and bounced down the path, looking over her shoulder. These two were so nice!  
How she wished she had more people to talk with, Sesshoumaru-sama talked so little, and Jaken-sama babbled too much  
about the same things.  
Kagome had to smile down at Rin, she seemed like she wasn't even tired this late at night. She just hoped that they  
would get to her home soon, and that...  
After a quick intake of breath from Inu Yasha, who halted in front of her, Kagome was brought out of her thoughts and  
back into reality. She herself was forced to stop, taking a step back as she saw the reason for Inu Yasha's shock.  
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin cried out, running over to the youkai who regared the two 'guests' with an icecold glare.  
"SESSHOUMARU!" growled Inu Yasha, about to reach for the Tetsusaiga just as he remembered that it wouldn't help much,  
not tonight.  
"Rin's sorry for being late, but Rin got food for some nice people, and they followed Rin back, see?" the little girl  
declared to her guardian, who simply nodded. In the same moment it seemed like Inu Yasha and Kagome put two and two  
together, and they blinked, looking at eachother in disbelief before returning their gazes to what they simply couldn't  
believe: Inu Yasha's older human-hating brother having a little girl clinging to his garments as she babbled away.  
"... you... wait, YOU..." Kagome started, not really knowing how to phrase all the thoughts that went through  
her mind at that particular moment.  
"You are taking care of a human whelp?!" Inu Yasha demanded, not having trouble being verbal. In response to the  
question, Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.  
"If you hadn't been in your current state, I would have killed you, Inu Yasha," he said calmly.  
"Then why don't you?"  
"Because it's no victory in watching you die as a filthy human," replied Sesshoumaru haughtily, then added, "plus  
as your wench pointed out, certain things shouldn't be done in front of pups."  
Curiously Rin blinkblinked up at her guardian, wondering why he was talking like that to the nice people.  
A few tense moments followed, neither daring to say anything nor move.  
Then finally Sesshoumaru turned his back to Inu Yasha and Kagome, not looking back at them as he spoke.  
"Furthermore, reveal my secret and I'll reveal yours."  
  
Inu Yasha and Kagome stood there on the path, quietly watching Sesshoumaru's back and hearing Rin's chatter as she walked  
next to him.  
"I never thought I'd live to see this..." Inu Yasha said, eyes still wide.  
"And I never thought we'd live after seeing this!" Kagome pointed out.  
They stood there, not saying anything for a few seconds, then Inu Yasha let out a sigh, turning to Kagome.  
"I don't think we ought to mention this to anyone," he suggested, earning a nod from Kagome.  
"I agree, they wouldn't believe us anyway... I mean, Sesshoumaru taking care of a little girl!"  
Seeing Kagome smile a little, Inu Yasha blinked.  
"Oy, something wrong?"  
"No... think about it, it means that he can't be all that bad, can it?" Kagome said as she turned to head back to the  
others.  
"Keh! Sesshoumaru is a fucking moron and he will always be!" Inu Yasha objected, following after her.  
  
*****************  
  
"... and then we played this funny game called 'spin the bottle', you spin the bottle and then the one it points at has to  
either answer a question or do anything the person who spun the bottle says to!" Rin finished as she and Sesshoumaru  
finally made their way back to the camp. He merely nodded, then saw Jaken sleeping next to the fire, leaning onto  
Ah-Un, who also seemed to have been overtaken by sleep.  
"Can we play that game sometime, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked sweetly, watching as Sesshoumaru nested down in the tall  
grass before she laid down next to him, yanking at his tail to get it completely coiled around her.  
"Maybe Rin. Now get some sleep," the youkai lord ordered, closing his eyes and thereby stating that the conversation  
was over. With a slight nod Rin accepted that answer, then yawned and stretched out, realizing just how tired she  
really was. Soon she was fast asleep, her breathing steady. Opening one golden eye, Sesshoumaru had to sigh.  
Why did she always ruffle his tail when she decided to use it as a pillow and blanket? 


End file.
